The tragedy unfolded on a quiet Tuesday night along BR-251, a long stretch of highway that cuts through the rural landscape of Grão Mogol in northern Minas Gerais. What should have been a routine return trip for a group of workers instead turned into one of the deadliest accidents the region has seen in years. By the time emergency crews finished their work, nine people were dead and another twelve were fighting for their lives.
The victims had been riding in a van heading back to Ceará after a work assignment. It was supposed to be a straightforward overnight journey—tiring, sure, but uneventful. The kind of ride where people lean against windows, drift into sleep, and dream of finally seeing their families again.
But at some point during that dark stretch of highway, everything went fatally wrong.
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